Backpack program feeds hundreds in Oconee, Pickens counties

WALHALLA — Several hundred students in Oconee and Pickens counties are benefiting from the school backpack food program, which provides food for them to have at home on weekends.

Officials in both counties say the program has grown and needs increased funding to sustain it.

Deb Wickliffe, communications specialist with the School District of Oconee County, said the program currently serves more than 358 elementary school students and 58 middle school students at a cost of about $67,000.

She said most of the money comes from donations. “The nonprofit organizations Lunch for Life, Salvation Army, and the Education Foundation of Oconee County help tremendously,” she said.

Last year was the first year of the program in Oconee County. Walhalla businessmen John M. Powell and Rick Robinson were instrumental in starting the effort in Oconee through the Lunch for Life organization.

“When we found out that kids were going home and not getting fed over the weekend, we had to do something to help them and their families,” Powell said.

Robinson said some children are caught in the cycle of abuse and neglect.

“If they can come to school without being hungry and concentrate on their studies, perhaps that cycle can be broken and they can better succeed and change the direction of their life,” he said.

The food is obtained from the Golden Harvest Food Bank and is picked up regularly from a Georgia warehouse by the Salvation Army and brought to a warehouse in Pickens, Wycliffe said.

The food is placed in gallon-size freezer bags that are placed discreetly into the student’s backpack or hall locker. “We try very hard not embarrass the students or bring any attention to them,” Wycliffe said.

Officials are already seeking funding for next school year and expect an increase in the number of students needing the program.

Contributions may be made to the Education Foundation of Oconee County, PO Box 608, West Union,SC 29696.

About 400 students are fed each weekend in Pickens County through the school backpack program, according to officials.

Businessman Milledge Cassell heard about the backpack program in Rock Hill and gained local support to start the Feed A Hungry Child In Pickens County program in 2009.

Cassell said the program reaches deep into the community, where there is high unemployment and insecurity for children.

The cost of the program, as in Oconee, is about $160 per child for the year.

“We have a major poverty problem in Pickens County and the children suffer the most,” he said.

Feed a Hungry Child Pickens County accepts donations from churches, business groups, businesses or individuals. For more information, call 864-897-9890 or visit www.PickensChildren.com.